A variety of control modules interact with different actuators during operation of a vehicle. Distributed control/actuator systems generally use a communication link to convey control information from a module to an actuator. For example, the module typically determines control commands having associated command functionalities based on various vehicle inputs/outputs and processing algorithms. The module transmits the control commands to the actuator via the communication link and the actuator, upon receiving the control commands, performs the command functionalities.
Some vehicle systems may make use of redundant processing elements to verify operation thereof such as verifying control commands transmitted from a module. When verifying command information transmitted by a module, redundant processing elements generally access the actual command information sent on the communications link. However, some control module architectures prevent redundant processing elements from having direct access to the communication link used for conveying the command functionalities. In these architectures, it is generally difficult for the redundant processing elements to properly supervise command functionalities.
One conventional supervisory control technique compares results produced from a main processing unit with a redundant processing unit. For example, the main processing unit generates one result during operation, and the redundant processing element attempts to produce an identical redundant to the result of the main processing unit. Differences between the results may indicate a problem with one of the processing units. Alternatively, the redundant processing unit may perform a computation that determines an upper and a lower limit for comparison with the results generated by the main processing unit. These techniques are generally based on comparisons made by the redundant processing unit with the actual communication from the main processing unit to an intended actuator control unit.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a vehicle control system that verifies control commands based on actual communication from a control module to an actuator unit. It is further desirable to provide a vehicle control system having a dual processor control module for interfacing with a vehicle actuator unit and that supervises output control commands based on data received by the vehicle actuator unit from the control module. Finally, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.